Former senior panellist Cox honoured to wear the jersey for any team

HAVING been with the senior panel as recently as last year’s Allianz League, one would wonder would Conor Cox feel going back into the Junior set-up would be a step down from the level he was at. Not at all in the Listowel Emmets player’s mind.

“Any day you get offered a Kerry jersey at any level then you have to take it. If you don’t then I don’t think that you should be playing football because it is an honour to play with Kerry. Anyone that does get the chance should not let it slip. I would probably equal the standard of football we play here with that of Sigerson Cup level being honest,” he said of the current level.

Cox was a member of the 2012 All-Ireland winning side and does notice the clear differences between both set-ups.

“In the 2012 team we had some All-Ireland medal winners in the group like Kieran Quirke and Pat Corridan. We also had some experienced players as well like Andrew Garnett, Mike O’Donoghue and Niall O’Mahony whereas this time it’s more about youth and there’s an abundance of it through the ranks,” he said of the class of 2015.

He is part of a forward line that is getting a lot of praise for its efforts thus far and one he feels there is a traditional mindset to. “No matter where you play in the forwards you are there to score. Every forward from 10 to 15 is picked to do that. After that it’s a case of looking after your own man and being working for the team as a whole. I would be happy with my own development but I still feel like that I have a lot to go yet,” the Sigerson Cup winner with UCC said.

The playing of this match in Croke Park will add that sense of occasion but it doesn’t make the game anymore important or less significant in the full-forward’s eyes.

“I’m not concerned too much about the venue, it would mean the same to me as if it was being played out in my own back garden in front of six people, I just want to win this medal. I’m not getting superstitious either the fact it’s Mayo again like in 2012, I don’t believe in things like that.”

A good mindset certainly for any player to be bringing with them into such an encounter.